Bobbing Around

   The Summit asked two basic questions:

   The Summit undertook to engage in a process of building a movement through developing principled partnerships among individuals and organisations committed and working towards transformational change.

   Participants agreed with the following core views and values:

   People's attendance and participation at the summit showed the existing commitment to doing the work and making the sacrifices required to create a sustainable future for Australia.

   The approach towards transformation agreed by the Summit participants was:

   The Summit sought to reach general agreement in principle on a common narrative and vision (where we are and where we need to go); process and pathways (how we can get there); and action (what we will do to achieve our shared goals).

   The Summit participants will continue to work together with others to act on this vision. A more detailed report of outcomes and plans will be released in coming weeks.

If you want to participate in this essential venture, or copy it elsewhere, visit http://www.transform-australia.net/.

Australian Greens: new climate action web site

   In recent years, the small political party The Australian Greens has grown, and has been capturing more and more of the vote. After the last federal election, they ended up holding the balance of power between two right-wing parties: Labor and Liberal (one doesn't stand for the working man, the other is illiberal).

   The Greens stand for, guess what, a Green future, working for sustainability, but also, they also champion humanitarian causes. A sustainable society needs to be just.

   A brand new development is their climate action web site. It's worth visiting, even if you are not fortunate enough to be Australian.

:)

Bullshit: More Damaging to the Atmosphere Than Cow Farts? by Steve Bhaerman

"The media has inundated us with so much toxic B.S. that our skeptic system has overflowed, and we end up swallowing huge ironies whole. So here is an irony supplement to munch on: We need a totalitarian police state to preserve our freedom."

Swami Beyondananda

   Those who insist that all of America's industries have been outsourced have missed an important one. No, not medical marijuana, although that is clearly one of our few thriving industries.

   I'm talking about the bullshit industry.

   Here are some jaw-dropping statistics:

   In 2009, $4 billion was spent by the fast food industry in advertising.

   Big Pharma spends more on advertising than on research and development.

   Tobacco companies spend $15.3 billion a year on marketing and promotion.

   In 2010, $50 billion was spent on TV advertising alone.

   So, starving artists take heart! Simply become a bullshit artist, and you'll have plenty to eat. If this sounds cynical and negative, that is not my intent. One of the higher purposes of comedy is to "pump ironies" - that is, to bring to consciousness contrasts that we don't tend to notice in ordinary reality. And ... in being inundated with so many skewed messages on a daily basis, our concept of "normal" has been so toxically distorted that we accept pathology as "just the way things are."

   Thanks to what I will heretofore refer to as the "bullshit industry," we are made to want things that we don't need, and are in fact, harmful. But that's not all the bullshit industry does. It also bombards us with trivia, misinformation and disinformation, causing confusion that unhinges us from our humanity and our true self-interest. Over the course of the past sixty years or so, the "citizen" has become virtually extinct, and been replaced by the "consumer."

   While the consumerization that is consuming humanity is a worldwide phenomenon, the United States is a special case. I wonder what those who have fought and died for freedom of the press would say about the article that appeared on the Common Dreams site called Why Americans Are Stupid.

   Here is the most recent issue of Time magazine as it appears in Europe, East Asia, the South Pacific ... and in the good ole USA.

   As anyone who has traveled overseas and watched the news has observed, news for Americans is generally geared to a fifth-grade level. Consequently, we have been "stupidized" into thinking at a fifth-grade level, and have become first-rate consumers, and fifth-rate citizens.

   What passes for "political discourse" is a polarizing shouting match that distracts us from what is really happening. So, while left and right have been pushing one another's hot button "G-spots" (as in God, Guns and Gays) insuring that we stay divided and conquered, a "bipartisan" bill introduced in the Senate by Democrat Carl Levin (Michigan) and Republican John McCain (Arizona) that essentially declares the USA a "permanent battlefield" where American citizens can be detained indefinitely and imprisoned without charge or trial. The bill has passed the Senate, and is now awaiting President Obama's signature or veto.

   This is what happens when we're not paying attention. The good news about such alarming developments is that the purpose of an "alarm" is to wake people up. And now what is required is that we step outside of our tribal comfort zones and see and hear what folks on the "other side" are saying. While it's easy to dismiss Fox "news" as Fox fiction (Fox News is not able to broadcast in Canada because of a pesky piece of legislation, Canada's Radio Act which states "a licenser may not broadcast ... any false or misleading news") here is an amazingly clear diatribe by Judge Andrew Napolitano broadcast on Fox Business News that parallels the alarm expressed by the left-leaning ACLU in the paragraph above.

   The only way we will overgrow Big Brother is first by acknowledging that the infrastructure of totalitarian tyranny is being installed NOW ... and by coming together with those who are awakening regardless of where they align on the political spectrum. Those willing to step outside the matrix of the current political puppet show to expose the "man behind the curtain" are the true leaders of the future. And folks, the future is here now.

   I am reminded of a scene in Bringing Down A Dictator (a film I highly recommend renting and showing) that documents the "spectacular defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in October, 2000, by an ingenious nonviolent strategy of honest elections and massive civil disobedience." In this one scene, the leaders of all the opposition parties - many of them bitter enemies - had to unite around one candidate to oppose Milosevic. As you watch them standing together on the platform, you can feel how uncomfortable they are. And yet, this is what was required to save their nation from tyranny. In a similar way, the American Revolution was broad enough to encompass Alexander Hamilton (who was virtually a monarchist) and libertarian freethinker Thomas Jefferson.

   And now an American Evolution is required to call forth the "heart and soul" of who we are, so that we use our energy to learn together instead of falling for the "impropaganda" designed to distract us. Imagine the energy that could be liberated if Americans from all political stripes (not to mention plaids and polka dots) stood together and declared, "No more bullshit! We're not buying it."

   What if we brought together a left-right coalition like the one my friend Joseph McCormick helped create in April 2006 that included The Christian Coalition and MoveOn.org? Between them, those two powerful organizations shut down the switchboards of Congress in order to successfully preserve net neutrality.

   Could we pull together a full-spectrum coalition today to preserve the Bill of Rights and establish a truer balance of power? This is where the REAL 99% needs to show up to completely and utterly "occupy" our political process NOW. While the Occupy Wall Street movement is about the power of money to buy influence, on a deeper level it's about a system that has become so corrupted, it's become impossible to distinguish between the corruption and the system itself.

   This is what Americans from across the political spectrum are fed up with ... and only by addressing these fundamental issues of governance (rather than devolving the conversation into specific policy) will we survive as free individuals in the context of healthy community.

   Provide the context... and the content will take care of itself.

   Everything else is -- you should pardon the expression -- extraneous bullshit.

Environment

Inspiring business from Andrew Gaines
Traditional Family Values Made Me an Environmentalist by Abbie Walston
Eco Whisper Turbine
Bad news for Big Oil and Big Coal by Giles Parkinson
Belgium to get off addiction to nuclear from David A Gabel

Inspiring business
from Andrew Gaines

   Paul Hawken talked extemporaneously to a business audience at KPMG in Sydney, some of whom are relatively new to considerations of business and the environment. He also had relevant things to say to those of us who've been catalysing change for a long time. For example, he pointed out that Ray Anderson didn't stop learning once he had been moved by reading The Ecology of Commerce; Ray went on to immerse himself in the literature.

   Yes! My takeaway was the importance of inspiring people to continue their own learning once we give them a starting point.

   Since this was a business audience, Paul talked in surprising ways about business and the environment. He pointed out that whatever we may call our current economic system, it certainly isn't 'capitalism', because true capitalists preserve their capital and only spend the surplus. "We steal from the future. The rate at which we are liquidating resources is masked by our success. We need an economy that builds natural capital."

   Too expensive? We spend huge amounts of money on things that are not in our best interest.

   And besides: we see economic signals every day that are contrary to what we know in our hearts. I thought it interesting that several members of the audience mentioned spirituality as part of their own journey. There is now room for the language of caring and heart in public discussions.

   At a pragmatic level, Paul observed that every time we raise our environmental standards it creates jobs rather than costing jobs. The small group in England in 1783 that first decided to challenge slavery was reviled for proposing a policy that would cost jobs. That was not how it turned out.

   Then Paul got to the rough stuff. He pointed out that in the last 25 years we burned 50% of all the oil ever burned -- and 20% of this was during the Bush administration. The science of climate change is real -- it is the same careful science that generates airplanes, bridges that don't fall down, and computers -- and all that is not in harmony with the Earth must leave.

   The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age do not communicate a full picture of what is going on in the world. There are conversations like this going on everywhere. The key thing is to create literacy. This can be done within your organisation, even if you're not at the C-level.

   It was wonderful that Paul served as a magnet to pull together such a group of business people. I envision future events where these and other business people engage in more in-depth collaborative explorations of how people in the business community can contribute to accelerating the changes we need.

   If you are interested in such future events, contact Dean Belfield at ECO2Sys. Dean was the prime organiser, and will carry this forward.

Andrew Gaines
Transform Australia
Whole system change for a viable society
(02) 4782-5866 andrew.gaines@transform-australia.net
www.transform-australia.net.

Traditional Family Values Made Me an Environmentalist
by Abbie Walston

   I'm a Republican environmentalist with traditional family values, and I owe those to my upbringing. When I think back on my childhood, my best memories took place outdoors. Every season, we spent the majority of our days outside on the farm. In springtime, we collected sap and boiled it down to maple syrup, then kept watch over the animals for the first sign of a new lamb or goat joining our farm family.

   In summer, we plowed, planted, weeded and fertilized (on tractor or on foot), made hay and cooled off with a swim. When the leaves changed, we picked apples and pumpkins, and loaded up hayrides full of visitors. And, although farm chores slowed down in the winter, we didn't stay inside. Instead, we spent our days ice skating on the pond, sledding, building snow men and going for horse-drawn sleigh rides, in between stacking firewood. I feel very fortunate to have had such a wonderful, productive childhood. My family worked together in good times, and in tough times. But there were many more happy than sad days.

   Do I sound like your grandmother, reliving the good old days? Do you think the world is very different now than when I was a child? Are these memories of a time gone by? Surprise! I'm only 30 years young. There are children all over the country growing up the same way I did. It may be as part of a farming family in a rural area, growing vegetables in a suburban backyard, or collecting eggs on an urban homestead. The American people are by and large going back to the land.

   My husband and I are raising our son Joshua in much the same way I grew up, with the addition of his father's passions for raising our own animals for meat, fishing and (someday) hunting. At the least, you could call us "outdoorsy." But, we like to think of ourselves as traditional. We believe in:

• Sitting down at the table for a family meal, turning off the TV, talking and listening to each other.
• Working hard and taking pride in what we do, valuing what it takes to earn a dollar and spending that dollar accordingly.
• Treating others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
• Respecting our elders, those who fight for our country, police officers, firefighters and teachers.
• Getting outside as much as possible and teaching our son Joshua about the world around him.
• Respecting our natural environment, and preserving it so that our children, and hopefully someday grandchildren and great-grandchildren, will be able to share our love for nature.

   These values are what drives my environmental activism. When I write a letter to my representatives in support of legislation to protect the planet, I am doing so in order to preserve this traditional lifestyle for my child. Many families have college funds as a plan for their children's future, but where will all these educated people live and what will they eat if our air is full of toxins, our water is dangerous to drink, and our soil is not fit to grow food?

   Please join the Moms Clean Air Force and help me preserve and protect our natural resources for our children's future.

Original source is Moms Clean Air Force.

Eco Whisper Turbine

   Renewable Energy Solutions Australia Holdings Ltd. (RESA) have developed a 20 kW horizontal axis wind turbine that is virtually silent.

   The company is a developer, manufacturer, installer and operator of renewable energy solutions through the development and ownership of a unique patented wind turbine known as the Eco Whisper Turbine, and the deployment of licensed tidal and solar technology.

Bad news for Big Oil and Big Coal
by Giles Parkinson

   Much of big business, particularly the fossil fuel industry and its cheer-squad in the mainstream media, likes to dismiss the ambitions and the policy proposals of the green movement as some sort of unrealistic, utopian dream. But the bombshell dropped by the deeply conservative International Energy Agency in its World Energy Outlook, released overnight, should shake them out of their socks: It is not the environmentalists and clean energy developers that are kidding themselves about the world's energy future needs, it's Big Oil and Big Coal.

   The IEA said that the world is effectively heading for disaster. If it continues with business as usual, then the world is hurtling towards a 6 degrees C global warming scenario, and the runaway impacts of climate change...

   Read on.

Belgium to get off addiction to nuclear
from David A Gabel

   The small western-European country of Belgium currently has two commercial nuclear sites and a total of seven reactors. Nuclear energy accounts for over half of the nation's power consumption, a total of about 45 billion kilowatt-hours per year. Although typically quite fractured, Belgium's political parties have reached a consensus on nuclear power. The oldest reactors are to be shut down by 2015 and all nuclear reactors at both sites will be shut down by 2025. The plan is conditional on Belgium finding enough energy from alternative sources to prevent power shortages.

   Read on.

Health

Soldiers and abused kids

Soldiers and abused kids

   A recent study by Dr Eamon McCrory at University College London showed that the parts of the brain dealing with emotion become modified in children who have experienced significant abuse. The pattern showed in an MRi scan is very similar to that of soldiers with combat experience.

   The surface implication, voiced by the researcher, is that this shows that "these changes could reflect neural adaptation. Maltreated kids and active soldiers are adapting to survive in a threatening or dangerous environment." Although this could help children survive their early years, it may predispose them to mental health problems in adulthood, such as depression or anxiety.

   This of course proves what we have always known. Being in a dangerous environment has certain effects on thinking and behaviour, whatever the danger might be. However, the second, unvoiced implication, believed by much of the community of biological scientists, is that if the changes show up in the brain, the effect is real. And below that is the subtle message that this makes it unchangeable. It's fixed. All we can then do for these people is to correct the problem with medications.

   Both these unvoiced assumptions are false. Observe someone who has been in a damaging environment, and you can observe the changes in how they think and act. Of course there are changes in the brain, but finding those changes doesn't make the effect any more real. It is one line of useful evidence, but to a large extent, a "so what."

   This study reminds me of one a few years ago, which showed that London taxi drivers have an overdeveloped part of the brain. This is obviously what they use to navigate the mazes of that city. While it may be useful for brain surgeons to know what part of the brain is used for that purpose, there are no implications for everyday life. It would be interesting to examine the brains of people who stopped driving taxis 10 or 15 years ago. My prediction is that the extra development will still the there, but strongly reduced. And a quiz on the streets of London will show these people to have a better knowledge than the average Londoner, but nowhere as good as that of a current taxi driver.

   Same for the abused kids and soldiers. Examine the brain of a person who had suffered terrible danger, after time and suitable life experiences (such as, for example therapy), and I predict you'll find that the differences will have reduced a great deal, perhaps disappeared.

Deeper Issues

Is Eating Dogs Different from Eating Cows and Pigs? by Marc Bekoff

Is Eating Dogs Different from Eating Cows and Pigs?
by Marc Bekoff

   The recent slaughter of numerous escaped animals in Ohio raises many questions about the moral and legal status of animals. Indeed, this was a tragedy that could have been avoided if there were laws to prevent the keeping of exotic animals by private citizens.

   Other forms of animal slaughter can also be avoided with stronger existing laws that are vigorously enforced and by the choices we make. Just today I learned about the cancellation of a dog-eating festival that was supposed to be held in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China. I recently wrote about our choices in food and noted that it's a matter of who we eat, not what we eat, when we consume formerly sentient beings.

   Of course I find the idea of a dog-eating festival to be disgusting and am appalled by it, but as one of the people interviewed notes, "I am opposed to the cancellation. Eating dogs is no different than eating chickens, sheep or pigs." They're right. In my essay concerning eating pigs I wrote, "When some people learn that I go to China to work with Animals Asia in their moon bear rescue program they ask, 'How can you go there, that's where they eat dogs and cats?' I simply say that I just left the United States where people routinely eat pigs, cows, chickens, and millions of other sentient beings." Why is eating dogs different from eating cows and pigs at a barbecue or in a restaurant? For one, we don't see the actual painful process of how pigs and cows become meals.

   Offensive as eating dogs is, we must be consistent in our choices of food. Seeing dogs cramped into tiny cages on a trunk isn't much different from seeing pigs and cows stuffed into transport trucks or chickens jammed into battery cages. I've seen them all and they bring tears to my eyes. It's easy to feel the terror and suffering of all of these animal beings and their reprehensible treatment is a blight on human nature.

   While this dog-festival was canceled, it's highly likely there will be others. Deep thanks to all of the people who are working to stop them. And while they're doing all they can do in a very difficult situation, we can also make a difference simply by facing our choices in food head-on and by being consistent about who winds up in our mouth. It's much easier for us to do this than for the people in China to accomplish what they're trying to do.

Marc Bekoff is a former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has won many awards for his scientific research including the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Marc has written more than 200 articles, numerous books, and has edited three encyclopedias. His books include the Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, The Ten Trusts (With Jane Goodall), the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, the Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, Minding Animals, Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues: Reflections on Redecorating Nature, The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, Animals at Play (a children's book), Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals (with Jessica Pierce), and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Increasing Our Compassion Footprint. In 2005 Marc was presented with The Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for the work he has done with children, senior citizens, and prisoners. In 2009 he became a scholar-in-residence at the University of Denver's Institute for Human-Animal Connection and a faculty member of the Humane Society University. In 2009 he also was presented with the St. Francis of Assisi Award by the New Zealand SPCA.

Psychology

My child was sexually abused
They all think I'm OK but...
I might as well have been hatched
I don't want to end up in a mental hospital!!!

My child was sexually abused

   My child who's three and a half was abused sexually and I managed to get the authorities informed. That aside, I was of the view that since she was abused approx a year ago, she would eventually forget about it as she's young. Getting help may worsen things. But she seems to be regressing and has been having social behavioral issues. She's clingy and very highly insecure, and fearful of strangers. Am at a loss of what to do. She seemed to be forgetting the past , but it comes back on and off. Someone has to be near her 24 hours a day. She seemed to adjust in school.

Please help
Rgds
Viv

Dear Viv,

   No, she won't forget. Even when things like that happen before a child is able to think in words, the effects stay there. They can be overcome with therapy, but it will have to be done at least twice: now, and when she is a teenager.

   Find a competent child psychologist. There may be one attached to the school/preschool system.

   For now, give her love and security. If she is clingy, fine. Slowly, with love, lead her out of it. The process is called "shaping." It's what you use if you want to teach an animal something. The principles are:

1. No punishment. When the child does something you don't like, explain that. "However much I love you, I won't have you throw food on the floor. Now come, you and I are going to clean it up together." At the worst, if she is disruptive or endangers herself or others, then restraint or "time out."

2. Withdraw attention (but not love) when she is engaging in behaviour you want to discourage.

3. Give her attention and approval when she is doing something you want to see more of, or less than previously of something you want to see less of. For example, if she forgets to be clingy for a set time (say 1 minute at first, gradually increasing), you wait till it ends, then say something like, "Darling, it was wonderful how nicely you played with that dolly. Come and give me a hug."

   This way, you will gradually see more behaviour you are encouraging, and less of what you don't reinforce.

   Make her feel that she has nothing to be ashamed of. She is not damaged in any way. Somebody else did nasty things to her. Make her feel proud of being herself. Find things she is good at, and encourage their development. This could be learning, playing music, drawing, some sport activities, whatever.

   With a child of this age, the psychologist will use play for therapy. Under instruction, you can do the same with her.

Hope this helps,
Bob

They all think I'm OK but...

   I am a 20 y/o female. I'm in college, studying microbiology. I got a lot friends and they are very comfortable around me because I like joke around and makes ppl laugh. My friends always see me as a cool girl with an expressionless face. But, nobody knows, deep inside my heart, I always feel lonely and sad.

   I had a very tough childhood. When I was 6, I was raped by a family relative, but I've nvr tell anyone till now. I also used to be bullied in school. Now, not anymore. Then, a few years ago, my parents' marriage was on the rock bcoz my dad is a womanizer. Now, my dad is rarely at home coz he got other woman and a son with that woman. All I can say is that I'm from a very very broken family. However, I guess I was just a strong kid back then bcoz I went through everything alone and still manage to become a useful person. I am a very intelligent student and a good daughter.

   For everything I've been through, I lost respect towards myself, I feel hopeless, lonely, sad, embarrassed and all the negative feelings. Since kid, I've always have almost no self-esteem, that's what makes me hate myself more. I always feel ugly and hateful. Other ppl always consider me lucky bcoz I'm financially stable, bright and pretty. It is bcoz they don't know what happened to me! There're many guys try to approach me, but I can't trust anyone anymore. That why I nvr have a boyfriend. I always feel like they're just trying to fool me around and that's why I prefer to just be friends with them. I desperately want to be loved, but I don't feel like I'm worth it.

   I can be others' best friend, but I never let anyone close to me emotionally. I keep all my feelings for myself and I'm afraid to let ppl see my emotion. Sometimes I feel dead inside, as if I'm not myself. Whenever I feel lonely, I cry myself to sleep. I'm nothing but pathetic. It's very sad knowing that when I'm alone, there's no one to support me. It's even harder that I can't even tell anyone about my hideous truth.

   I tried to get rid of all my dark memories by pretending that nothing happened, but I know I couldn't. I don't want to live like this anymore. I'm tired of being helpless. PLEASE HELP ME..

Leanne my dear,

   For 14 years, you have kept a secret as if you had something to be ashamed of. Now that you are a young adult, ask yourself: if you found out that some other 6 year old child has been raped, do you think the child has done anything wrong?

   As that poor little girl, you no doubt felt helpless, and dirty and ashamed, and decided never to tell anybody. This almost always happens, even if the perpetrator doesn't "groom" the child into taking blame.

   The real you is the one your friends see: the intelligent, bright, pretty girl who is popular with most people, a good friend, a good student. They can see you the way you really are.

   The ugly, lonely, sad, embarrassed person is an illusion. You have this inside view as the result of the damage this man imposed on an innocent little child.

   Every victim of childhood abuse of any kind has this kind of distorted self-view. I know, because I have it too. Just like inside you there is a damaged little girl, inside me is a damaged little boy. When I was your age, he ruled my life, just like your little girl rules yours.

   Then I realized that the outside view, how others saw me, was correct, and my damaged little boy was wrong. For a long time, I then coped by arguing with that little boy. He said, in my heart, "You're ugly and stupid and can never do anything right and nobody could love you." I looked at the evidence: I looked OK, I had achievements other people envied, and wherever I went, some people, the decent ones, offered me friendship.

   Now, I don't argue with this damaged view any more. This is because I have dealt with the traumas of my childhood, and so that little boy is just an inner noise that's still there, but I can ignore. There is no emotion attached to what he says.

   You can achieve the same. To do this, you need to reverse what you've been doing till now. Keeping that rape a secret has made it fester like an infected wound in your soul. That the cause of all your terrible, unrealistic feelings about yourself.

   If something doesn't work, change your approach. In fact, research shows that being open about what had happened to you, and allowing the emotions to play themselves out, is the way to heal.

   You didn't indicate where you live. In many places, there is no time limitation on child sexual abuse. Find out if this is the case, then seriously consider reporting the matter to the police.

   Even if you choose not to do that, go to a psychologist competent at trauma work, and do what is called exposure therapy. This is when you allow the bad memories to come, but in a very special way: That was then and now is now, and I now have power that I didn't have then. It happened, and hurt then, but the re-experiencing is recalling emotion-then. Feel the emotion-then, as an observer. It helps to put a number on it: "My distress is 7/10." Then you can watch the intensity lower. It does.

   Go through the re-experiencing over and over, until there is no emotion left. At that stage, you are over it.

   The second issue is trusting guys. Some are like your father, but not all. It's fine to be cautious, but also be open. Take risks -- we both know you are strong enough to survive anything.

Love,
Your new grandfather,
Bob

I might as well have been hatched

   Well, I am adopted and I feel totally lost right now. I don't know who I am. I wish I knew my story. I know absolutely nothing whatsoever of my birth parents. I have just landed here with no past, no story, almost 'hatched' rather than 'born'. If I ever find my birth mother, I will never be able to forgive her. I want to look her in the eye and ask her why she gave me away. She better have a good reason or I may just kill her then and there with me bare hands. I stay up every night and cry and get worked up. All I can do is wonder.

   I could be anyone, anything. I could be the child of an escort or the result of a man's second worst sin...the possibilities are endless. I can't stop obsessing over them. Why hasn't my birth mother contacted me? Doesn't she love me? Doesn't she want to know how I am? Whether I am happy? What I look like? Doesn't she care? Does she hate me? Does she think of me on my birthday? Does she wish things were different? What hopes did she have for me? Does she replay the scene in her head over and over and wish she had done differently? It kills me to know that I have an entire family 'out there' and I will never know them.

   What do I do?

Dear Alison,

   I have met this problem many times before. You are not alone with this agonizing.

   The reason it is all so painful for you is that you have made it so. You do have adoptive parents, who CHOSE you. They looked at a little baby girl and decided to give her their love, take her into their lives. They probably had many kids to choose from, but something about you attracted them. This makes you special. You can choose to focus on this instead.

   I have no doubt that there are tensions between your parents and you. This is normal for every 17-year-old. If you had been born to them, there would be similar tensions. Look around at the families of other kids at your school and you'll see what I mean.

   The potential difference is that you can decide to be grateful that these people rescued you from having to grow up in an orphanage, or in an endless series of foster homes, or homeless on the street. You may well have died miserably by now, except that they rescued you.

   In a very real sense, the past doesn't matter. You are where you are, regardless of the path that has taken you here. You could have been your adoptive parents' biological child, and now have exactly the same level of distress over some issues facing you. The emotion you are investing in your adoption could now be torturing you about the kinds of issues that drag down some other kids you know. Again, look around and see what I mean.

   But OK, there was a woman who had a baby, and gave her up for adoption. You have already come up with several of the likely reasons: she could have been a prostitute, could have had a life wrecked by alcohol or other drugs, she could have been a street kid herself, raped and left pregnant. Or, she could have been very young, perhaps younger than you are now, and her parents might have insisted on her giving her baby away. She could even have been dying of a terminal disease, with no family who could look after her baby.

   We may never know what the facts were. However, you can be sure of one thing. She did not give you up willingly. As she decided to have her baby adopted, or as she faced the fact that others were taking her baby away although she wanted to keep you, you can be sure that her heart was breaking.

   Chances are very high that she consoled herself that you were more likely to find a good life by being adopted than by staying with her. What's more, she was probably right. If she had kept you, you may have grown up in the terrible life of the underworld, or just as bad, under the constant judgment and disapproval of a narrow-minded family.

   Why hasn't she contacted you?

   She may be dead.

   She may be ashamed of her lifestyle, and doesn't want to spoil yours by disclosing the kind of person who gave birth to you. Or, she may have ended up building a good life for herself, with a husband and kids, and be afraid to disclose a past indiscretion that would get her harshly judged and maybe endanger her current comfort.

   Who knows?

   And, as I said, all this is only important because you choose to make it so.

   See if you can find forgiveness in your heart for your mother. I am sure she has also been suffering for the loss of having to give up her child. She didn't do it because she was evil, but because she could see no other option, or because it was forced onto her by others.

   Then, appreciate what you have, and move forward with life.

   Your adoptive parents gave you love, a home, a present, a future. You can give back by looking for opportunities to be kind to others. Maybe, when you have a family of your own in a few years' time, you can look out for abandoned kids, or those at risk, and do something to improve their lives. Maybe you can even adopt one.

Love,
Bob

I don't want to end up in a mental hospital!!!

Hi, I'm Ila and I'm 13 years old. I'm finding it extremely hard to go on with life. I Feel like if I'm worth nothing. Like as if I'm just a bother to everyone. I barely recently told my mom how I felt. Shes putting me in counseling. I'm really scared! I don't want to end up in a mental hospital!!!

   P.S) I think I want to end my life. I just some advice what to do. Please help me.

Ila, I am happy to be able to reassure you. Many teenagers are brought to me with similar problems. Rather than putting them in mental hospital, I keep them out of it.

   Tell your mom that you do want counseling: talk therapy. However, do your best to stay away from medicines that affect your mind.

   From the little you have written, I cannot tell why you feel this way about yourself. But whatever it is, you have a set of beliefs that make you miserable. The way out of your hell is to learn to think differently. This is what a good psychologist will guide you to do.

   My guess is that your mom is acting from love and wanting the best for you. She probably can see you suffering, and hates it, and would do anything to help.

   Actually, she can't. The psychologist can't. Only you can. From this moment on, you can choose to change your life for the better.

   It will be much easier with a guide who knows what has worked for other people. That's highly likely to be the counselor your mother wants you to see.

   Give it a go.

Love,
Bob

Writing

Shorten that doorstopper

Shorten that doorstopper

   A writer hired me to edit her book, which was abut 165,000 words. I let her know that it'd be difficult to find a publisher for a book that size, to which she replied that she was self-publishing, so it didn't matter.

   Well, it still does.

   Nowadays, self-publishing is perfectly valid. However, the same considerations apply to author as publisher as to another party. This is that length has financial costs.

   If you publish a physical book, over 65% of cost is paper. Postage goes in part by weight.

   Even with an electronic book, services to do format transformations (into Kindle and e-Pub) cost by the page. File size can limit download possibilities.

   In any case, however arbitrary they are, current trends set the pace. It's a bit like speed limits. In a given situation, driving at 100 Kmh in a 60 zone may be perfectly safe. However, that person stepping off the footpath expects you to drive more or less at the speed limit and...

   So, it is wise to keep reasonably close to the expectations readers of the genre have.

   Keeping to a word limit is a discipline that is developed with practice. Entering short story competitions is a great way to do it.

   If your book is too long, you could do some or all of the following:

   1. Cut it into more than one book. Only, then each volume needs to have a satisfying ending, and each should stand on its own as well as being part of a series.

   2. Write out a plot. Look at http://mudsmith.net/bobbing2-1.html#writing to see a good way of doing that. When you have this skeleton for the story, plug in the bits from what you have written. This will mean that lots will not be included. You can save them for another book.

   3. Go through, with the aim of ruthlessly cutting. Every subplot line, every character, every scene, every paragraph, sentence, even word, needs to do a job. If it can't justify itself, then cut. This exercise ALWAYS improves a story. My first drafts are already pretty tight, but I invariably do this exercise and cut by about 10%.

   The point is, that writing has a purpose. We all write for ourselves, but you want to also have other people enjoy the fruit of the activity. This means that you need to consider how other people -- the market -- will react, and that's always different from how you see it. As I said, this needs discipline.

What my friends want you to know

5 star review for Lorna and Larry
No Comfort Zone: Notes on Living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by Marla Handy
Alzheimer's Awareness Month
Bainstorming * 2.5
Twilight Times Books discount sale
Carolyn's book wins prestigious contest
Writing and marketing ebooks sale, and free webinar
The Evil Within a new book by Pat Dale
Angela's Coven, by Bruce Jenvey
Sale of Elysabeth's books
Secrets, Lies and Love by Roseanne Dowell
A mystery by Ryder Islington
Sherri Fulmer Moorer's latest young adult mystery novel
New release by Barbara Quinn
Witches and vampires from Cher Green
Emerging Visions #21

5 star review for Lorna and Larry Collins

   A five-star review for Murder... They Wrote! Hooray! http://readersfavorite.com/review/5091

   Read about our books 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park, Murder... They Wrote, Murder in Paradise (currently a finalist for the 2012 EPIC eBook Award for best mystery), Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, An Aspen Grove Christmas and award-winning Directions of Love at www.lornalarry.com.

No Comfort Zone: Notes on Living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
by Marla Handy

   No Comfort Zone exposes a jagged slice of humanity that is all too present, but often shielded from our view. The author challenges us to see life as she does, so we can understand a bit of what it's like to live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With insight and humor, she describes the fear and unpredictability of growing up in an unstable household, the terror of being raped as a young adult, and the confusion and shame of living with perceptions and reactions that are often so very different from others'. After years of treatment for depression, a diagnosis of PTSD came as a surprise. Isn't this something that only happens to combat veterans? But it made sense. In writing this highly personal account, Marla Handy helps the rest of us understand what PTSD is and that it happens here at home too.

ISBN-13: 978-0983111108

Alzheimer's Awareness Month

   January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month and, in honour of this, a huge book signing fundraising event Authors Fight Alzheimer's is taking place at the North York Central Library Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on Monday January 30th (5120 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario). Over twenty-five authors, some award winning, will be present to sign their books with the proceeds from sales going to the Alzheimer's Society. The theme is Read...Think...Remember to promote keeping your mind active through reading, an important defence against the disease. Dr. Sandra Black, director of the LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and professor with the Department of Medicine (neurology) at the University of Toronto, will speak about Alzheimer's disease and the importance of reading. Thanks to the corporate sponsors Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, MuseItUp Publishing, Starbucks, Sunrise of Aurora and The Edward Street Bistro. For more information contact the event organizer, Joanne Elder (author of Spectra, MuseItUp Publishing, www.sciencefictionthrillers.com). Joanne has been the primary caregiver of two parents with Alzheimer's disease and is donating half her author royalties to the Alzheimer's Society.

Bainstorming

   The November Bainstorming blog is now live at http://www.darrellbain.com/

   Subjects this month: Great Idea For Economy--and you, Early Christmas Shopping, Government too big or just too complicated?, Book Reports, Short Story With Legs, Progress Report, The More Times Change The More They Are The Same, Alien Seeds, A Quote Worth Reading, The Complete Toppers, Newspaper Surprise, Bring Back the Nerva!, Continuing Series, The State of America: Our Idiotic Income Tax Laws, New Political Correctness Term, A program For Mystery Lovers, Excerpt from Alien Seeds.

   And for December: Great Christmas presents for your friends and family, Real funny excerpt from Life On Santa Claus Lane, State of America Series: Affirmative Action, Citizenship and Special Treatment for Minorities, Profiling inconsistencies, It's Not Corporate Greed, Progress Report, Book Reviews, Deficit Hoax.

Darrell Bain
Fictionwise Author of the Year
Multiple Dream Realm and Eppie awards
See all my books at http://www.darrellbain.com/.

   Darrel has also let me know he's completed the Apertures trilogy, "my latest work and in many ways, the best, I think. An alternate worlds trilogy. Some parts of it would appeal to environmentalists as well as SF and adventure and thriller fans. Available in both print and ebook."

Twilight Times Books discount sale

   We appreciate our readers. 100 critically acclaimed ebooks are on sale from Twilight Times Books. Prices discounted 50% ($1.99 to $3.50) now via the Twilight Times Books web site and also via our ebook distributors: B & N Nook, eReader, Fictionwise, Kindle, Kobo, OmniLit, Sony, etc. until Jan 15th. Historical, literary, mystery, SF, YA and more.

http://twilighttimesbooks.com/.

Writing and marketing ebooks sale, and free webinar

Hi Bob,

   I have a promo I'd like to share:

   Writing and Marketing eBooks Sale: All e-books only $1.99 from 12/17/11 through 12/23/11. Check it out at http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/p/karens-books.html

    I also have a bit of promo for Writers on the Move:

   Stop on by to check out our next FREE webinar workshop: http://writersonthemove.com

   If only one is permissable, please use the e-book sale one.

   Thanks so much. If you need any other information, just let me know.

   I'll also check out your contributions instructions.

   Thanks so much!

Karen Coiffi

Carolyn's book wins prestigious contest

   Award highlights include the following: (Full results listing available on USABookNews.com).

The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or partnering with your publisher (Second Edition) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson won best business book in the writing category.

Blooming Red: Christmas Poetry for the Rational by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball was a finalist in the poetry category.

   One reviewer said reading Howard-Johnson's books is like picking the brains of a master marketer. It received plaudits from industry shakers like Marilyn Ross, founder of Small Publishers or North America and Tim Bete, director of Dayton University's Erma Bombeck Writers' Conference. The new one carries endorsements from the likes of Dan Poynter and Tony Eldridge.

   Howard-Johnson, an instructor for nearly a decade at UCLA Extension's Writers' Program, chose to have the new edition published in both e-book format and paperback in order to give her struggling students and clients affordable and convenient choices. Whichever format a reader chooses, The Frugal Book Promoter assures an author's book the best possible start in life. Full of nitty-gritty how-tos for getting nearly free publicity, the author shares her professional experience as well as practical tips gleaned from the successes of her own book campaigns. A former journalist and publicist (she wrote media releases for fashion designers like Christian Dior), she tells authors how to do what their publishers can't or won't and why authors can often do their own promotion better than a PR professional. Her poetry is published in dozens of literary and review journals worldwide. USABookNews.com is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community. Learn more about Howard-Johnson at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com and http://carolynhoward-johnson.com.

The Evil Within, a new book by Pat Dale

   Among the teeming throng of mankind, can anywhere be found a man who does not harbour a seed of evil within his soul? Battle weary, Army Sergeant Adam Watson retreats from Iraq to his Ozark home, suffering from PTSD and believing he's seen the worst that man is capable of. Even as he seeks refuge, he finds that same evil in his own country, his own town, his own family--and in his own heart.

THE EVIL WITHIN by PAT DALE

Available in January, 2012 at: http://www.museituppublishing.com

Angela's Coven, by Bruce Jenvey

   Reggie Sinclair is an aging British rock star living in New York City who has just found out he is terminally ill. He also has a very dark secret: When he was still an undiscovered teenager, he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his great fame and success. As his life draws to an end, he prepares to face the inevitable until he stumbles upon a very enchanting, modern-day witch named Angela, and her untraditional coven.

   Angela gradually introduces Reggie to her world of old school Witchcraft with its roots in alchemy and 'natural chemistry' dating to the Dark Ages. As their relationship grows, they devise a plan to break Reggie's contract and save his soul.

   This is a story of the struggle between good and evil with a cast of characters that ranges from guardian angels to young witches-in-training. Together, they have to come to terms with the uncertainties of love, loss, and life decisions to save Reggie from an unbearable eternity. Here is a plot filled with unexpected twists and surprises to the very last page that will also cast an entirely different light on anything you may have ever considered as faith!

www.covenbooks.com

Sale of Elysabeth's books

   One week only sale: Elysabeth Eldering's YA paranormal mystery, Finally Home, will be half price on Kindle and Nook readers (regular price $3.99/sale price $1.99) for the week of December 17 through December 24. Print copies will be available for order through email only (eeldering@gmail.com) for $10 with free shipping anywhere in the United States; that's a $3 savings. Shipping anywhere else will be calculated at the time of order. Print copies will be sent out after the holidays.

   Elysabeth is the award winning author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad (JGDS), 50-state, mystery, trivia series. Her stories "Train of Clues", "The Proposal" (available as an ebook), "Tulip Kiss" (available as an ebook), and "Butterfly Halves", all placed first, second, or runner up in various contests to include two for Armchair Interviews and two for Echelon Press (Fast and... themed type contests). Her story "Bride-and-Seek" (available as an ebook) was selected for the South Carolina Writers' Workshop (SCWW) anthology, the Petigru Review. Elysabeth lives in upper state South Carolina and loves to travel, read, cross stitch and crochet. When she's not busy with teenaged children still at home, working her full-time job as a medical transcriptionist or participating in virtual classroom visits, she can be found at various homeschool or book events promoting her writing.

Secrets, Lies and Love, by Roseanne Dowell

   Multi-published author, Roseanne Dowell, former school secretary and writing instructor, is an avid reader and writes various types of romance: paranormal, contemporary and mystery. Living in Northeast Ohio, she's married with six grown children, fourteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She spends her time between writing, quilting and embroidering. She's been published since 2006 with five releases this year and seven new releases coming in 2011. She also enjoys blogging, tweeting, facebooking and posting on various writers groups. Her book,

   Secrets, Lies and Love is being released Jan 4th from Books We Love.

   When Meghan Shelby inherits the family home, she returns to her hometown after a ten year absence. Not only does she find the house is in a rundown, dilapidated condition, there's a dead body in it. She also discovers secrets and deceit from years ago.

   You can find more of Roseanne's books at http://amzn.to/roseannedowellsbookswww.roseannedowell.com.

A mystery by Ryder Islington

   Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery, is receiving rave reviews from readers. http://www.ll-publications.com/ultimatejustice.html

   The small town of Raven Bayou, Louisiana, explodes as old money meets racial tension, and tortured children turn the table on abusive men. FBI Special Agent Trey Fontaine returns home to find the town turned upside down with mutilated bodies. Working with local homicide detectives, Trey is determined to get to the truth. A believer in empirical evidence, Trey ignores his instincts until he stares into the face of the impossible, and has to choose between what he wants to believe and the ugly truth.

   A graduate of the University of California and former officer for a large sheriff's department, Ryder Islington is now retired and doing what she loves: reading, writing, and gardening. She lives in Louisiana with her family, including a very large English Chocolate Lab, a very small Chinese pug, and a houseful of demanding cats. She can be contacted at RyderIslington@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://ryderislington.wordpress.com.

Sherri Fulmer Moorer's latest young adult mystery novel

   What happens when Little Miss Perfect's life is turned upside down? Rachel Shull is about to find out. A year ago, she broke up with her boyfriend, Danny, over suspicions that he had a double life. Now the death of a friend and strange events make her suspect that Danny isn't the only one in the small town of Woodland, SC with dark secrets. Find out how the case unfolds in Sherri Fulmer Moorer's latest young adult mystery novel, Blurry, available at https://www.amazon.com/author/sherrimoorer. You can find more on Sherri's writing at her website, including news on other published works, upcoming releases and a blog at http://www.sherrithewriter.com.

Sherri Fulmer Moorer, Author
Blurry (Wings E-Press)
Quarantine (Smashwords)
Battleground Earth - Living by Faith in a Pagan World (PublishAmerica)
Anywhere But Here (Whiskey Creek Press, April 2012)

New release: Speed of Dark (Eternal Press) by Barbara Quinn

Urban fantasy with romance

   There are some people you never forget. In the summer of 1964, Luke D'Angelo falls for one of them -- a mysterious girl named Celeste. Like Luke, Celeste is an outsider struggling to find her identity, but unlike Luke, Celeste has special powers that have the potential to destroy everything Luke and his friends believe in.

   Luke and his mentally challenged sister become fast friends with this curious girl. Set in a small town that is home to a shrimp cocktail plant that belches a foul-smelling tomato and fish fog, this coming-of-age tale about a girl with a dream and the teens who want to help her fulfill it, is a balance between the comic and the profound. The story resonates with the message that inside each of us is a light that burns so bright no dark can extinguish it. But at what cost?

Available in paperback and for your e-reader : http://tinyurl.com/cmety5t
Coming in January 2012 Hard Head
Speed of Dark Amazon.com: Speed of Dark: Barbara Quinn: Kindle Store
Hard Head coming January 2012 - Eternal Press
Author of 36C and Slings and Arrows -- DiskUsPublishing
Founder the Rose & Thorn

Witches and vampires from Cher Green

   Released earlier this year, Escape to Love, debuted a new, upcoming author. The story, a tale of a newbie witch, takes the reader into the times of witch hangings. Released in early December, Seduced by Darkness followed as her second novella. A story of a half-breed vampire whisks you away into a tale of the rewards and losses of breaking the rules to find love. Both stories are available as singles or in anthologies, Sweethearts in Bloom and Brides and Dark Secrets, at www.etreasurespublishing.com. You can find more information on this author, along with short story publications and excerpts from her two novellas at www.chergreen.com. Cher also hosts a blog filled with insights on writing tips, life in general, and information on her upcoming releases. Visit chergreen.blogspot.com.

Emerging Visions #21

   If you are interested in unconventional art, poetry, challenging philosophy and lots more, you will want to look at Laurie Corzett's Emerging Visions. Number 21 is now available.

---

Ergonomics

The hotel fridge

   In the last couple of years, my duties have taken me into many more hotel rooms than I'd have preferred. I am now a connoisseur of what they offer, and should perhaps establish a new career of advising hotel architects on what to avoid.

   Top of the list would be the pretty, unobtrusive cupboard they insist on putting the fridge in.

   Every hotel room has a little fridge, stocked with stuff the owners hope will tempt you, at a slight addition to your bill of course. These fridges are in the habit of pumping energy out of the contents, and radiating it out the back. This is fine, if that discharged heat has somewhere to go.

   In an unventilated cupboard, it doesn't. Open the cupboard door, and the heat jumps out at you.

   On one of my trips, the cleaner opened the fridge door to see if I'd succumbed to the contents, which of course would then need to be restocked, and while the cupboard door was properly shut, the fridge door within was left ajar. The result: melted chocolates, and other things that were put in there because they need to be kept cold actually hot to the touch.

   Everyone should know that a fridge needs plenty or air space behind. The one in your house should stand at least 100 mm (4 inches) from the wall, and should have a vent above it so the hot air can get away.

   So, the simple solution would be to do away with the cupboard, and just have the little fridge stand there undisguised, proud of itself, and with plenty of opportunity for ventilation. This would reduce its electricity consumption to maybe one-third of being on all the time, which is what the imprisoned fridge will do.

   A hotel may have hundreds of rooms. With a fridge in each, the saving in electricity would be a significant increase in the profit margin.

   If the aesthetic requirements are that a cupboard is a must -- heavens, the customer might realise that there is a fridge in the room! -- then it should be vented at the back, with nice large holes going into the wall space. This would not result in the same efficiency as a naked fridge, but would be a LOT better than the current custom.

Have a laugh

New Epidemic: All Romance Writers are Fat by Karen Syed

New Epidemic: All Romance Writers are Fat
by Karen Syed

   Shocking! I had no idea. But before you start heaving rotten fruit at me note: I am a romance author. So what the heck am I talking about? Recently, I was in a store in the book section and a strange (literally) woman informed me (with indisputable truth) that all romance authors are fat. I was aghast. I couldn't believe my ears. Someone call Diane Sawyer, or in this woman's case, perhaps Dr. Phil, she's obviously lost her mind.

   According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) 33.8% of US adults are obese. Now, I don't know how that relates to romance authors specifically (no column for those stats), but it seems this would be a much more relevant notion to focus on than a few authors whose books just happened to be on the shelf that day. For the record, crazy lady's data was compiled by looking at the bio pages of the books in Wal-Mart that day.

   Now, it could be true in some cases that a few of us have found a few extra pounds, but when you sit at a desk for 8 hours a day (a lot of authors do) you will see some shifting of the...parts. What can we do about it? I'm no expert, but a couple years ago, I weighed 300 lbs. Seriously. I've currently lost 75 lbs. and couldn't be happier. How did I do it?

   It wasn't easy, but looking back it really wasn't all that difficult. Here are five easy tips on how to keep crazy women from talking smack about us (and this isn't just for romance authors, anyone can use them.)

   1. Stop parking so close at the fast food joints. Find the farthest parking space and park there. Think of the number of steps you will add getting to that Big Mac.

   2. Read labels when shopping. There are so many different kinds of cookies on the market, but you can choose those that have fewer calories, less fat, and higher fiber. Fiber is our friend.

   3. Wear brighter colors. You think I'm joking. I used to wear all dark colors--to camouflage--but when I began wearing brighter colors, I felt better, and I saw myself looking better, so I tried harder to drop those extra pounds.

   4. Buy a Wii. They aren't just for kids. Bad writing day? Spark up the Wii boxing and beat the crap out of that little guy. It relieves stress and you will have less urge to graze the pantry.

   5. Switch to diet soda. I know some of you hate it, but rumor has it the decrease in calories and sugar in soda alone could help you drop several pounds a month.

   Karen L. Syed has had eight romance novels published and swears she has used each of the previously mentioned tips. She is the president of Echelon Press Publishing and nothing pleases her more than to discover new talent in the writing world, no matter how much they weigh. She currently lives in Orland, FL with her husband and enjoys Walt Disney World, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and watching other people exercise. You can visit her unique and controversial Blog at http://klsyed.com.

About Bobbing Around

   If you received a copy of Bobbing Around and don't want a repeat, it's simple. Drop me a line and I'll drop you from my list.

   You may know someone who would enjoy reading my rave. Bobbing Around is being archived at http://mudsmith.net/bobbing.html, or you can forward a copy to your friend. However, you are NOT ALLOWED to pass on parts of the newsletter, without express permission of the article's author and the Editor (hey, the second one is me.)

   If you are not a subscriber but want to be, email me. Subject should be 'subscribe Bobbing Around' (it will be if you click the link in this paragraph). In the body, please state your name, email address (get it right!), your country and something about yourself. I also want to know how you found your way to my newsletter. I hope we can become friends.

Contributions are welcome, although I reserve the right to ecline anything, or to request changes before acceptance. Welcome are:

Submission Guidelines

   It is a FALSE RUMOUR that you need to buy one of my books before your submission is accepted. Not that I cry when someone does so.

   Above all, contributions should be brief. I may shorten them if necessary.

   Content should be non-discriminatory, polite and relevant. Announcements should be 100 to 200 words, shorter if possible. Book reviews, essays and stories should be at the very most 500 words, poems up to 30 lines.

   Author bios should be about 50 words, and if possible include a web address.